Tracking Real Progress

Scalable, integrative solutions push instrument tracking to new heights

By Julie E. Williamson
Excerpts From Article in Healthcare Purchasing News February 2009

Given the costly instrumentation that hospitals have in their inventories - and the bleak economy that's pushing organizations to find new ways to stretch their budgets and maximize their investments - it seems there's never been a better time to implement instrument tracking solutions.

Make no mistake, the capabilities of instrument tracking technologies reach far beyond what the name implies. While computerized device tracking is certainly a core function, and can immediately benefit facilities that have been used to keeping tabs of instruments manually (or, via the even less efficient means of hunting them down on foot and by sight), that's hardly the limit of today's solutions.

In fact, when looking at the technology's expanding capabilities, one could argue that the somewhat limiting "instrument tracking" label could be renamed to better convey its far-reaching functions. It's a notion that some vendors - and many of their hospital customers that have witnessed the far-reaching benefits of the systems -are more than willing to embrace....

...The benefits of computerized instrument tracking have been well-documented. At the very least, it gives facilities a clear picture of their complete inventories, which helps eliminate costly and premature replacement of devices that were previously lost or misplaced. Other basic, yet critical benefits include improved staff satisfaction and resource allocation, fewer procedure delays, improved tray accuracy, and faster surgical suite turnaround (thanks to less time spent manually searching for instruments) - all of which drives efficiencies and translates to more revenue for the hospital...

...Despite the majority of hospitals still lagging behind in their instrument tracking efforts, it does appear that more organizations are beginning to appreciate and understand the value of switching to a computerized solution...

Boosting quality, efficiencies

Whether a facility is already using computerized instrument tracking and is looking to push the benefits of their solutions even further - or is one that's looking to adopt the technology for the first time and wanting to maximize the investment from the get-go - the good news is today's robust systems likely won't disappoint.
Certainly, it's an increasingly sophisticated market segment that's been driven by the ever-evolving and -demanding needs of the sterile processing department and its many customer...

...Although vendors' solutions differ, there appears to be a common theme in product development: the push to enhance system integration to drive better data collection and output, while also automating critical processes to eliminate redundancies and error, enhance quality and process consistency, and enable staff to better allocate their time and resources, and improve their fact-based decision-making....

...Functions of the future

Moving forward, healthcare organizations can expect even more exciting developments in the instrument and process management marketplace - with enhanced integration capabilities at the forefront of the innovation...

Censis Technologies Inc, Franklin, TN, also stands firmly behind the RFID trend. According to Jim Creason, the company's senior vice president of business development, the current limitations of RFID is more of an infrastructure and cost challenge than a system functionality obstacle. "I believe customer hurdles in this area should subside completely in three to five years," he said, adding that the company's Censitrac solution is currently capable of tracking devices via RFID...